Episode #4—Formed for the Flock: The Pastor’s Spiritual Formation

What does it mean for a pastor to grow? Not simply to accumulate knowledge or hone his craft, but to be genuinely formed—shaped in character, deepened in godliness, and refined by the long, patient work of the Holy Spirit across decades of ministry?

Scripture is clear as to what “spiritual formation” actually means for a pastor. It is fundamentally about character, not competence. The pastor’s qualifications to shepherd the flock of God are primarily character issues. Competence is important—a pastor must be skilled in teaching—but competence in teaching devoid of godly character is insufficient.

The qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are both requirements and goals—not a checklist to be ticked off once, but a horizon to be pursued continuously. The overriding qualification is blamelessness, which means that there is nothing overtly wrong in a man’s life that you can grab hold of to pull him down from the ministry. It doesn’t mean he’s sinless. The implication is that he is always working on his maturing character.

Paul’s instruction in 1 Timothy 4:15 is the animating spirit of this lifelong pursuit: “Practise these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” The same apostle who told Timothy not to let anyone despise his youth also insisted that progress should be visible. Formation is never finished.

A key aspect to spiritual formation is the need for gentleness. Years ago, someone rebuked me, appealing to 2 Timothy 2, about the need to be meek and gentle, rather than argumentative, when dealing with people. It was painful, but helpful.

Since then, I have become firmer in my convictions, but gentler in expressing them. This is how it should be. As they mature, pastors should become softer in their approach, but firmer in their theology.

Numbers 12:3 describes Moses as “very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth,” yet throughout the book of Numbers, the testimony is repeatedly that “Moses did everything that the LORD commanded.” Meekness and obedience are not opposites. To be meek is to be strong, but to have strength under control.

Several formative influences have shaped my own development. Chief among them is the example of my own pastor—a man I have looked to since the age of three, now in his early eighties and still preaching with the same vigour he brought to the pulpit at 24. Whenever I am with him, he is excited about something new he has discovered from the Bible. For him, his relationship with God is the supreme thing. Over the years, he has helped me to see that it’s less about the kind of ministry I want to have and more about the kind of man I want to be. The echo of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:1—“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”—is unmistakable.

Books have also played a significant role. Titles like Charles Bridges’ The Christian Ministry, Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor, and John MacArthur’s work on pastoral ministry have challenged me about what a man of God is supposed to look like.

But perhaps the most significant formative moment came from a missionary friend, Bob Hayes, who served in Ghana for 35 years. As I prayed with him one morning, he said to me, “You minister from overflow.” That really helped me to realise that ministry is not just professionalism. I need to walk with Christ and allow my ministry to flow from that. A pastor who doesn’t guard his devotional life quickly becomes a mere a professional, and that is a dangerous height to fall from.

A pastor’s daily habits reflect his conviction that ministry flows from intimacy with God. I cannot recall the last time I started a day without reading Scripture. It has sometimes meant waking very early, but it needs to be done.

Reading has also helped me tremendously—not only for sermon preparation but for the feeding of my own soul. I set aside dedicated time for reading, much of which is directed at my own spiritual nourishment rather than my next sermon. The pastor needs to be fed if he will feed the flock.

This principle must extend into the pastor’s approach to sermon preparation. Rather than treating study as a merely intellectual exercise, he must pray through it, asking God to teach him as he goes. The pastor must beg God to show him the burden of the text. He must apply it to himself before he can helpfully apply it to his hearers.

Gauging one’s own spiritual progress is a notoriously difficult business. When children measure their height by marking on a door frame, they cannot do it every day. But if they go back every few months, the progress is evident. Similarly, if the pastor studies his navel every day, he will not see growth.

While self-examination plays some role, a more reliable measure of growth is the testimony of others. This is one of the gifts of a plurality of elders—men surrounding one another, speaking honestly into each other’s lives. The Proverbs image of iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17) is not merely a metaphor for intellectual debate but a description of character formation in community.

There is, however, one personal gauge that remains important: engagement with the word. As the pastor matures, the Scriptures should still grip him. He must love the gospel. He must never cease growing excited about the things of God. If studying the word is a mere drudgery to him, he has clearly taken his eyes off the Lord.

The pastoral life is emotionally demanding. Physical health matters. Exercise is important. I often find that a midday run does more to untangle a knotty passage than another hour at the desk. But beyond the physical, he is equally insistent on the principle of rest.

It is unwise for a pastor to never take time off. It violates the biblical principle of Sabbath and does not set a good example. Sunday is a working day for a pastor, which means that the pastor should intentionally set aside another day of the week as a day of rest. That day should be given, not necessarily to inactivity, but to a different type of activity, which allows the pastor to rest from his usual labours.

If an Israelite under the old covenant attended every annual festival prescribed by God, including travel time to Jerusalem, he would like have five or six weeks of holy days annually. He needed to work hard, but he also needed to worship hard and rest hard. Worship and the rest were comingled.

Family is also non-negotiable. Pastoral demands—counselling appointments, membership interviews, training, and the rest—can easily encroach on time that belongs to wife and children. The pastor must not sacrifice his family for the ministry. Family is a priority. The pastor is wise to discipline himself to pray for his family first each morning, knowing how easy it is to run straight to intercession for the congregation. His children should be able to testify that their father was present for them—that while they knew he was busy, their memories are of a father who was there.

To those early in ministry, my counsel is simple, patient, and grounded in the same convictions that have shaped my own formation: It won’t come overnight. It’s a process of development over years. Make sure that you take care of your soul today—studying the word, being faithful in teaching, ministering from overflow—and development will come over time.

At the heart of it all is a refusal to separate the man from his message. The pastor who neglects his own soul in the service of his congregation’s souls has made a catastrophic bargain. Formation is not a preliminary stage before ministry begins; it is the ongoing condition of ministry’s health. As Paul urged in 1 Timothy 4:16: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”